Iowa guard Devyn Marble, top, drives to the basket over Minnesota center Elliott Eliason during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2014, in Iowa City, Iowa. Iowa won 94-73. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

IOWA CITY — For the second straight season, the Gophers suffered a humiliating 21-point loss at Iowa — one that last year seemed to mark the beginning of the end of Tubby Smith’s tenure with the program.

There was a different vibe, though, after the 94-73 shellacking Sunday against the No. 14 Hawkeyes at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Minnesota did have a 10-point first-half lead late. And it seemed for the first 18 minutes that first-year coach Richard Pitino clearly was getting the most out of a team that’s probably not as talented as the upper echelon of the Big Ten.

But that talent gap was way too much to overcome in the end.

So instead of ripping his team for getting outscored 29-10 during a 6-1/2-minute stretch, Pitino simply praised Iowa’s depth. He also noticed that his players were missing something after upsetting No. 11 Ohio State last week.

“We were certainly humbled today, and maybe we needed it,” Pitino said. “I thought I sensed that we were losing that underdog mentality that we’ve had all year. Maybe when we beat Ohio State, we started feeling it a little too much.”

Players and coaches received a lot of pats on the back, text messages and national praise after the Gophers (14-5, 3-3 Big Ten) took down the Buckeyes at Williams Arena on Thursday.

Fans in Dinkytown and all over the state of Minnesota surely were getting that warm and fuzzy feeling like this really could be a surprise team.

But Sunday provided a harsh reality check of just how far Pitino’s team still is from a Big Ten title contender playing at the top of its game.

The Hawkeyes (15-3, 4-1), whose lone conference loss came at Wisconsin, are right behind undefeated Michigan State and Michigan in the Big Ten standings. But they might be the deepest and best offensive team in the conference.

Coach Fran McCaffery’s team flashed that firepower Sunday, storming back to outscore Minnesota by 31 points after trailing 43-33 with 1:33 left in the first half.

The Gophers needed their best player, Andre Hollins, to score 18 of his 20 points in the first half to gain control. Meanwhile, Iowa responded to trail just 43-41 at halftime with its top two scorers, Roy Devyn Marble and Aaron White, going scoreless from the field.

Reserve guard Josh Oglesby carried the load early with 14 of his 17 points in the first half, including 4-of-4 shooting from three-point range.

“They keep coming with guys,” Pitino said. “They’ve done a great job of recruiting. You look at how they go deeper and deeper into their bench, and there’s no drop-off.”

Iowa had five players in double figures, including White and Marble, who scored 33 of their 34 points in the second half. Marble had 14 of his team’s first 28 second-half points, and the Hawkeyes also had a 43-18 advantage in bench points.

“I think it’s just a further example of the talent we have across the board,” McCaffery said. “When you’re having 40 points off the bench, it presents all kinds of problems for them.”

Pitino switched his defenses in the second half from a 2-3 to a 2-2-1 zone and also man-to-man.

“But there was no defense I could devise to get stops,” he said. “We were not willing to do it.”

While Iowa’s zone kept Andre Hollins scoreless from the field in the second half, Minnesota’s zone had little punch on the perimeter and inside with 7-footer Elliott Eliason in foul trouble.

Eliason had seven points but just six rebounds and one block in 16 minutes. He had been leading the Big Ten with 10.6 rebounds and 3.2 blocks through the first five conference games.

Mo Walker, Joey King and Oto Osenieks combined for 22 points, but they were outplayed inside by Iowa’s Gabe Olaseni (12 points, seven rebounds) and White, who hit 10 of 11 free throws.

But it wasn’t just the interior that looked overmatched. On the perimeter, DeAndre Mathieu and Malik Smith, the team’s second- and third-leading scorers in Big Ten games, combined for just nine points on 4-for-11 shooting.

Mathieu, who had four turnovers, fouled out. So did Eliason, who was also called for a technical foul for complaining to the officials before going to the bench.

The toughness the Gophers showed in beating Ohio State and taking Michigan State into overtime wasn’t there Sunday against Iowa.

They’ll have to rediscover it before a big rivalry game Wednesday at home against a Wisconsin team looking to end a two-game slide.

“I think we didn’t have the same fight as we did against Michigan State when they came back,” Andre Hollins said. “I don’t think we responded well when adversity hit.”

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